For years Place Émilie-Gamelin and the surrounding area held a bad reputation for drug sales and homelessness, something the city has tried to progressively change.

[2][3] The park is named for Roman Catholic nun Émilie Gamelin, founder of the Sisters of Providence religious community, which had operated a convent on the land.

Since 2014, it hosts the Jardins Gamelin in the summer, home to public gardens, outdoor concerts, food trucks and street performers.

[7][8] These are part of an ongoing series of effort by the city to revitalize the area, making it more family friendly and appealing to tourists.

The 1,9m high work of art, made by sculptor Raoul Hunter in 1999, was inaugurated on May 25, 2000 commemorating both the 200th anniversary of her birth and the renovation of the rue Sainte-Catherine kiosk, located in the Place Émilie-Gamelin where the shelter she founded once stood.